Senators pay the price for cold start against Sabres

Mike Hoffman had the hat trick, but this time there was no comeback story.

And, this was a big loss in more ways than one.

Not only were the Senators unable to extend their winning streak to five straight games in a 5-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night in front of 14,239 at the Canadian Tire Centre, they also finished the game without winger Bobby Ryan and defenceman Marc Methot.

Hoffman completed his first career three goal-game late in the third while Mark Stone also chipped in for the Senators. Ryan O’Reilly scored twice while Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist as Sam Reinhart and Kyle Okposo also beat Craig Anderson and Ottawa closed out November with a 9-5-1 record.

“It feels good to get the hat trick, but at the end of day, we didn’t win so that’s the main thing,” said Hoffman, who scored the club’s second of the night on the power play at 18:29 of the third.

The Sabres scored three times on the power play and that was the difference.

Ryan left after aggravated a hand injury he suffered Nov. 17 against Nashville that forced him to miss two games and coach Guy Boucher said he won’t play Thursday.

“Bobby Ryan will be out. He won’t play the next game for sure,” said Boucher, who added Methot is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

While former Senators goaltender Robin Lehner started the game, he didn’t finish. He limped down the hall to the club’s dressing room with 2:21 left in the first after stopping five shots and didn’t return but was on the bench.

That left backup Anders Nilsson to finish the game.

Following a terrible start in the first, the Senators turned up the heat on the Sabres in the second and completely outplayed them, but were trailing 4-3 after 40 minutes.

Boucher wasn’t impressed with the way the club played, especially to start.

“I was hoping the first period would be better than I thought it would be,” Boucher said. “We didn’t do a good job in the first period and that’s what killed us. That’s what sank us.”

Buffalo's Justin Falk (right) keeps the puck away from Curtis Lazar in a close call in front of Buffalo's net during first-period action between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2016) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Julie Oliver/PostmediaJulie Oliver/Postmedia

Ottawa's Chris Neil (left) mixes it up with Josh Gorges in front of Lehner's net during first-period action between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2016) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Julie Oliver/PostmediaJulie Oliver/Postmedia

Dion Phaneuf (far left) celebrates his goal with Kyle Turris (centre), Erik Karlsson (65) and other teammates, but after a coach's challenge it was disallowed during second-period action between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2016) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Julie Oliver/Postmedia

Ottawa's Marc Method upends Buffalo's William Carrier during second-period action between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2016) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Julie Oliver/PostmediaJulie Oliver/Postmedia

Chris Kelly takes the puck away from Buffalo during second-period action between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2016) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Julie Oliver/Postmedia

Ottawa's Codi Ceci (right) keeps the puck from Buffalo's Jack Eichel in front of Anderson's net during second-period action between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2016) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Julie Oliver/PostmediaJulie Oliver/Postmedia

Mike Hoffman approaching Buffalo's net with the puck during third-period action between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2016) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Despite a hat trick from Ottawa's Mike Hoffman, Buffalo still beat the Sens 5-4. Julie Oliver/PostmediaJulie Oliver/Postmedia

Buffalo goalie Anders Nilsson watches as his team navigates the puck away from a scramble in front of his net during the dying minutes of the third-period between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2016) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Despite a hat trick from Ottawa's Mike Hoffman, Buffalo still beat the Sens 5-4. Julie Oliver/PostmediaJulie Oliver/Postmedia

Derrick Brassard eyes the puck in front of Buffalo's net during third-period action between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2016) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Despite a hat trick from Ottawa's Mike Hoffman, Buffalo still beat the Sens 5-4. Julie Oliver/PostmediaJulie Oliver/Postmedia

Buffalo's Ryan O'Reilly holds off Ottawa's Mike Stone and Kyle Turris in a battle for the puck during third-period action between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2016) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Despite a hat trick from Ottawa's Mike Hoffman, Buffalo still beat the Sens 5-4. Julie Oliver/PostmediaJulie Oliver/Postmedia

Ottawa's Mike Hoffman (second from left) is congratulated by teammates for his hat trick during third-period action between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2016) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Despite that, Buffalo still beat the Sens 5-4. Julie Oliver/PostmediaJulie Oliver/Postmedia

Nilsson had to be solid because the Senators threw everything they had his way by outshooting Buffalo 17-4 in the second alone.

After the Sabres pulled out to a 4-2 lead on Reinhart’s effort at 17:08, Hoffman brought the club back to within a goal only 43 seconds left with his second of the game.

The Senators won’t be happy because they appeared to tie it up 3-3 with 3:50 left in the second, however, a goal by Dion Phaneuf was called back. It was ruled that Chris Neil interfered with Nilsson before the puck crossed the line.

“We started out slow, their power play was clicking and we were chasing our tails all night,” said Anderson, who faced 28 shots. “We didn’t start out right. Bad luck bounces put us in the hole.

“Our (penalty kill) definitely struggled tonight. We lost the special teams battle. They got three and we got two. At the end of the day, you’ve got to win or tie the special teams battle. Usually we’re pretty good but we just weren’t able to shut those guys down for some reason.”

For the first time this season, the Senators scored a power-play goal in two straight games and both have come from Stone.

After scoring Sunday in New York, Stone — playing his 200th game — picked up a loose puck in front that nobody seemed to be able to find and beat Nilsson on the stick side to pull Ottawa to within 3-2 at 8:20.

The Senators were trailing 3-1 to the Sabres, were outshot 14-7 and while Ottawa had played solid defensively in the last week there was no evidence of that in the first 20 minutes.

After falling behind 2-0 after allowing consecutive power-play goals, Hoffman got the club on the board at 13:47. The public address announcer hadn’t even finished giving the details of the goal, when only 31 seconds later, O’Reilly beat Anderson with a backhander to restore a two-goal lead for the Sabres.

Less than 10 minutes into his season debut, Eichel had a goal and an assist. He scored his first of the year on the power play with a rocket that beat Anderson on the stick side at 9:31. That came with Mark Borowiecki in the box.

“We made some good pushes, the power play look good and a lot of things look good there was just a little bit of frustration and they made some good plays on us,” Stone said.

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